Fast-track reconciliation not an impossible dream 

The legal punishment for a wealthy man convicted of killing two graduates with his speeding car shouldn’t be taken as a sign that Thailand is reforming itself where the justice system is concerned. After all, the case of Jenphop Viraporn triggered a nationwide social-media frenzy almost unprecedented in its outrage. “True justice”, to qualify as such, must also cover cases that go under everyone’s radar; Jenphop’s conviction is anything but a sign that the country is moving in that direction.
Last year, he slammed his Mercedes-Benz into the back of the victims’ car at very high speed. Allegations he was driving under the influence of substances other than alcohol swirled in the murky aftermath of the accident but were never proven. The court decided to give him the benefit of the doubt on that count, handing down a five-year jail sentence for reckless driving and halving it in recognition of his “confession”.
His lawyer will appeal, and the case is certain to drag on while Jenphop remains for now a free man. That an accident which happened in March last year took until this week before a court finally delivered its verdict will raise a lot of eyebrows. Jenphop was injured in the crash and there was never any doubt that he was driving the car that did the damage. The case was hardly complex, but the lengthy time it took for a ruling to be delivered is typical for the Thai justice system.
In Thailand, legal privileges afforded to the wealthy constitute the biggest and most obvious national flaw, but efforts to reform the country are being focused on more debatable points, like whether senators should be elected or appointed, and what the political system should be like. The real problem that causes the greatest resentment among grass-roots people is the way their rich compatriots are offered privileged legal treatment. The responsibility for this imbalance is not restricted to any political shade or colour. In other words, both camps of the political divide are equally guilty of creating the lopsided justice system.
Jenphop’s legal journey has not arrived at its final stage yet, and much could change. But no matter how the case is concluded, the jury will still be out. A good justice system requires much more than the punishment of people responsible for fatal accidents that prompt public outrage. We have witnessed countless tax frauds, cases of insider trading, suspicious deaths, religious scams and plenty more “irregularities” in which the big fish have managed to escape the arm of the law. The cases may be too complex to understand, or are under-reported by the media, or not shared on Facebook as much as they should, but they deserve straightforward and transparent legal treatment all the same.
It has become all too common for wealthy suspects to literally buy time and drag their cases out forever, while others brazenly flee legal action and re-emerge after a while to live comfortable lives as if nothing has happened. Punishment can alter according to the way the political wind blows, even when the cases concerned are not political at all.
Political pundits and activists will typically tell you that “reconciliation” is extremely difficult, if not entirely impossible. But we may be barking up the wrong tree. Who knows? If we can eradicate the legal privileges that rich people often enjoy, maybe “reconciliation” won’t be that hard to achieve. The best part is that legal reform is not a measure likely to send protesters into the streets.